Dave Stern
January 28th, 2009, 03:03 PM
posting here b/c I am interested in thoughts specifically re the canon A1 for either of the above (rather than general tapeless acqusition).
(or if the edirol f-1 were a little less $ I would put it on the list too).(and if the nnovia didn't seem so clunky I would put it on the list too).(and I would love it if cineform came out with their product although that seems not to be happening - too much time elapsed with no news)
I would like to buy one of the two above but am a little stuck on pro's & con's. My typical usage would be in recording long events (plays, performances, etc.) where I need to capture the entire event without suffering from missed video due to tape changes (single camera).. Length up to 2 or 3 hours (some in 90 mins though). The saved time due to not having to capture the tape is not quite as important to me although is a benefit. Any metadata capabilities is not critical right now for me, nor do I really need swappable media.. I tend to do one project, capture / offload that, and them am ready for the next. I shoot on both a tripod & handheld.
Here's how I see the pro's & con's given my usage:
Sony pro's:
- small unit, b/c of solid state media more reliable and lower power demand
- can take advantage of assumed falling prices / larger capacities of media as new cards are made available.
- design / software seems pretty clever given all of the posts here
- some cost advantage vs. firestore
- the future of these things really is solid state, so this unit fits that
Sony con's:
- max of 32gig cards right now, e.g. 72 minutes (I think) so I would have to change cards any time the event goes over 72 mins. I have to wait to get cards of the capacity I want..they should be coming soon but not sure and will be $$$
- dropped video frames on tape change (although that may be due to the firewire output avail and not what the sony is doing)
- FAT32 forces 4gig files max, and I thought there was a dropped frame issue between any two files (??)
Firestore pro's:
- 100 gig capacity which would be fine for me for any event, don't need to worry about swapping or purchasing new media
- UI / SW seems better than prior units (although I am not completely convinced, the stories on the firestore section here aren't all great)
- nice looking design
- no lost frames due to file splitting since it is on NTFS and supports unlimited file size (although bigger risk due to file corruption but I would still use tape throughout)
Firestore con's:
- this company is in chapter 11 and who knows if they will come out, provide support, etc. we all know they have a new deal with canon and want to reorganize, but with these things until it happens, "who knows"
- history of technical glitches in other verisons doesn't inspire confidence
- not solid state, although would be sufficient for the next few years and hopefully power consumption and MTBF isn't terrible
- price seems high for what it is, about $2k.. feels like they are premium pricing this where sony did a better job to put a reasonable price on it (who would have thought) to recover for their development costs and product costs.(but when one factors in the media costs the two get closer in price).
Anyway, as you can tell I am looking to be swayed one way or the other (or any other that I haven't really considered well enough).
Any thoughts / comments appreciated!!!
(or if the edirol f-1 were a little less $ I would put it on the list too).(and if the nnovia didn't seem so clunky I would put it on the list too).(and I would love it if cineform came out with their product although that seems not to be happening - too much time elapsed with no news)
I would like to buy one of the two above but am a little stuck on pro's & con's. My typical usage would be in recording long events (plays, performances, etc.) where I need to capture the entire event without suffering from missed video due to tape changes (single camera).. Length up to 2 or 3 hours (some in 90 mins though). The saved time due to not having to capture the tape is not quite as important to me although is a benefit. Any metadata capabilities is not critical right now for me, nor do I really need swappable media.. I tend to do one project, capture / offload that, and them am ready for the next. I shoot on both a tripod & handheld.
Here's how I see the pro's & con's given my usage:
Sony pro's:
- small unit, b/c of solid state media more reliable and lower power demand
- can take advantage of assumed falling prices / larger capacities of media as new cards are made available.
- design / software seems pretty clever given all of the posts here
- some cost advantage vs. firestore
- the future of these things really is solid state, so this unit fits that
Sony con's:
- max of 32gig cards right now, e.g. 72 minutes (I think) so I would have to change cards any time the event goes over 72 mins. I have to wait to get cards of the capacity I want..they should be coming soon but not sure and will be $$$
- dropped video frames on tape change (although that may be due to the firewire output avail and not what the sony is doing)
- FAT32 forces 4gig files max, and I thought there was a dropped frame issue between any two files (??)
Firestore pro's:
- 100 gig capacity which would be fine for me for any event, don't need to worry about swapping or purchasing new media
- UI / SW seems better than prior units (although I am not completely convinced, the stories on the firestore section here aren't all great)
- nice looking design
- no lost frames due to file splitting since it is on NTFS and supports unlimited file size (although bigger risk due to file corruption but I would still use tape throughout)
Firestore con's:
- this company is in chapter 11 and who knows if they will come out, provide support, etc. we all know they have a new deal with canon and want to reorganize, but with these things until it happens, "who knows"
- history of technical glitches in other verisons doesn't inspire confidence
- not solid state, although would be sufficient for the next few years and hopefully power consumption and MTBF isn't terrible
- price seems high for what it is, about $2k.. feels like they are premium pricing this where sony did a better job to put a reasonable price on it (who would have thought) to recover for their development costs and product costs.(but when one factors in the media costs the two get closer in price).
Anyway, as you can tell I am looking to be swayed one way or the other (or any other that I haven't really considered well enough).
Any thoughts / comments appreciated!!!